BETH TIKVAH SYNAGOGUERICHMOND BC

YizkorMEMORIALBOOKLET

57812020/2021

The epitome of Yizkor brings us to recognize and respect the sanctity oflife. We are who we are because of those who brought us into this worldand those who shaped our lives until this moment. As our beloved familymembers and friends cease to physically dwell in this world we pray: t'he nishmahto tzerurah bitz’rorhachayyim

In other words: May his/her soul be bound up in the bonds of life. I haveoften thought about the ways in which we continue to give life to thosewho have come before us. When we take the time to teach, or even live theirvalues, we give them life. When we share stories about them, we give themlife. When we give tzedakah in their honour and memory, particularly torecipients that exemplify their passions, we give them life. When we striveto live in their example, we give them life. And as we do — give them life— we recognize that we reap the rewards of the lives they led and thelives we enable them to continue to lead. As such, our lives are betterand the world becomes brighter.

May the readings and tributes in this book, WHICH WE WILL USE FORTHE YIZKOR SERVICE for Yom Kippur and all of the Festivals of 5781,bring comfort and inspire joyful memories of those you have loved. Maythe memories of your loved ones be for a blessing.

Rabbi Tendler

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ON LIGHTING A MEMORIAL CANDLEA candle.A flame.A memory.

G-d of generations,Grant a perfect rest under Your tabernacle of peaceTo ____________________ (name),My ____________________ (relation: father, mother, wife, husband,brother, sister, etc.),Who has left this life and this world.Let his/her soul find comfort.Let his/her memory be a blessing.

This candle is for healing,This flame is for hope,Calling forth our joys and sorrows,Calling forth our hours and our days.

G-d of our ancestors,Bring me/us solace and consolationIn this moment of remembrance.Let all who mourn find peace.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day

(As the light is kindled, say:)Zeycher tzadeek leev’racha,The memory of the upright is a continuing source of blessing.

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WE REMEMBER

At the rising of the sun and at its going down, we remember them.

At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, we rememberthem.

At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring, we rememberthem.

At the shining of the sun and in the warmth of summer, we rememberthem.

At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn, we rememberthem.

At the beginning of the year and at its end, we remember them.

As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us, aswe remember them.

When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them.

When we are lost and sick at heart, we remember them.

When we have joy we crave to share, we remember them.

When we have decisions that are difficult to make, we remember them.

When we have achievements that are based on theirs, we rememberthem.

As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us, aswe remember them.

–by S. Kamens and Rabbi J. Riemer

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YIZKOR

Yizkor creates a sacred space and time wherein we can open our heartsand minds to the possibility of a genuine inter-connection with belovedfamily members and friends who have left behind the world of the living.Yizkor is a window. Prepare to open that window…

As you recite Yizkor prayers let your senses and imagination serve as thevehicle of inter-connection. For whom are you saying Yizkor today? Can youimagine that person’s face before your eyes? See their smile, visualize howthey might be carrying their body standing next to you. Do you recall thesound of their voice? Hear their words as you stand in prayer.

Feel their presence right in this moment. In your mind, in your heart,allow a conversation between the two of you to unfold. What needs to becommunicated this year? What’s the message you need to hear today?What are the silent prayers of the heart? What remains unspoken? Speak.Listen. Take your time. There is no reason to hurry. This is a timelessmoment. Let all the radiance of their love to be with you right now.

Yizkor teaches us to remember the dead. Long after people die, their legacylives on inside of us. Within the wellsprings of our infinite souls we find thewindow of connection between the living and the dead.

–by Reb Simcha Raphael

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WE RECALL

Some of us recall parents who watched over us, nursed us, guided us,and sacrificed for us.

Some of us lovingly call to mind a wife, husband, or partner with whomwe were truly united – in our hopes and our pains, in our failures andachievements, in our joys and our sorrows.

Some of us remember brothers and sisters, who grew up together withus, sharing in the play of childhood, in the youthful ad- venture of dis-covering life’s possibilities, bound to us by a heritage of family tradi-tion and by years of togetherness and love.

Some of us call to mind children, entrusted to us too briefly, to whomwe gave our loving care and from whom we received a trust thatenriched our lives.

So many of us recall beloved relatives and friends whose affection anddevotion enhanced our lives, and whose visible presence will neverreturn to cheer, encourage, or support us.

Though they are gone, we are grateful for the blessings they brought toour lives. We are sustained and comforted by the thought that theirpresence in our lives remains an enduring blessing that we canbequeath to others.

We can show our devotion to them by our devotion to those ideas thatthey cherished.

O God of love, make us worthy of the love we have received by teach-ing us to love You with all our heart and with all our soul and with allour might, and to spread the light of Your divine love on all whose livestouch ours.

Give us strength to live faithfully, for we are cheered by our confidencethat You will not permit our lives to be wasted, but will bring all ourworthy strivings to live on, even as we may not see their fulfillment.

Mordecai M. Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and Ira Eisenstein 2 (adapted from Mahzor Hadash)

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BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS

Yizkor: Looking backwards, we recall ancestry.

Looking forward, we confront our destiny.

Looking backward, we reflect on our origins.

Looking forward, we choose our path.

Remembering that we are a tree of life, not letting go, holding on, and holding to, we walk in an unknown, beckoning future, with our past beside us.

–by Rabbi Harold Schulweis

THE MEANING OF THE KADDISH

In the presence of death, we extol life—the creative force energizingeach of us. In presence of reality, we speak of mystery, of love strongerthan death, of memories that turn each day into precious possibility. Forlives gone from our midst, for tears shed in deepest affection, for whatwe have become and hope yet to be, we give assent. We affirm—and inthat affirmation, we join with the fellowship of Israel and all humanity.Their loss is ours; ours is theirs. In seeking peace and understanding forourselves, we promise our own understanding to bring peace to all wemeet. And to this hope and promise we say, Amen.

Author Unknown

THE GIFT OF MEMORY

We thank Thee, O God of life and love,For the resurrecting gift of memory

Which endows Thy children fashioned in Thine imageWith the Godlike sovereign powerTo give immortality through love.

Blessed be Thou, O God, Who enablest Thy children to remember.

–by Rabbi Morris Adler

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YIZKOR MEDITATIONS

When we ask God to remember the souls of our departedat Yizkor, we request more than a mere mental act. Wepray implicitly that by focusing on our loved ones’ souls,God will take action on their behalf and save them fromwhatever pain they may be suffering, wherever they maybe. At the same time, the implication is that this act ofremembrance also constitutes a guarantee of Jewishcontinuity—well beyond just those we remember, and farbeyond us as well. In remembering and in asking forGod’s remembrance, we request divine help in continuingour people’s trajectory beyond ourselves, to achieve theultimate aims of our people’s history.

Yizkor is, in the end, not a prayer for the dead, but a promiseby the living.

–by Rabbi Aaron Panken

AFFILIATED WITH UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

There are stars whose light reaches the earth only after they themselves have

disintegrated and are no more. And there are men whose scintillating memory lights the

world after they have passed from it. These lights which shine in the darkest night

are those which illumine for us the path.

—Hannah Senesh